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Top 10 Worst Video Game Reboots
The originals were great, but the reboots…not so much. Welcome to Watchmojo.com and today we countdown our picks for the top 10 Worst Videogame Reboots For this list, we ranked the worst reboots and revivals of classic games, based on how they were received by critics and fans at launch, and how they stacked up compared to the original. List #10: “Final Fight: Streetwise” (2006) The title that inspired this game was among the best 2D arcade beat ‘em ups, but the franchise didn’t transition well to 3D. It wasn’t even good 3D, and the visuals were flat-out ugly. Not only did it look more like a Fight Club wannabe than … well … Final Fight, but the camera issues and dumb AI meant that it had none of the fun gameplay, either. We wanted each brawl in the game to be our final fight, because we couldn’t wait for it to end. #9: “Alone in the Dark” (2008) The 1992 game that inspired this disaster is widely considered to be the first 3D survival horror game, but its reboot seems to forget what the term: “Alone in the Dark” means. The title moved protagonist Edward Camby from a haunted mansion in 1920s Louisiana to modern day New York City, and feels more like a Roland Emmerich disaster film rather than a horror game. On top of that, the crappy level design is made worse by annoying controls, and the overloud of awful glitches ruined any possibility for terror. #8: “SimCity” (2013) How the hell do you screw up one of the most beloved PC simulation franchises of all time? Well lets start with the problem of not being able to even play the game caused from the mandatory use of an internet connection, brought on by the unnecessarily multiplayer components. If that weren’t enough, the build space was frustratingly small, making the game feel more like Sim Suburb than Sim City. It’s since patched some of these problems most notably allowing you to play offline, but it’s a screwup EA will never live down. #7: “Space Raiders” (2004) “Space Invaders” was one of the most influential games of all time. But this title was a poor attempt to make it dark and gritty. It made the classic 2D shoot ‘em up into a 3D, urban set third-person shooter where you can only move left or right, and it destroyed all of the charm of the original in the process. And there’s literally no challenge in the game as you have unlimited continues. It’s a completely unnecessary game that’s best left forgotten. Except here. #6: “Golden Axe: Beast Rider” (2008) Not an arcade beat ‘em up like the original, but a 3D hack and slash adventure with heavy violence to bring in an M rating. Sadly, the added violence still wasn’t enough to keep it interesting. Despite its title, the actual riding of beasts doesn’t work particularly well, because the creatures are tough to control and it’s too easy to get knocked off of one. The game also suffers from poor hit detection and environments so drab you’ll get bored quickly thanks to repeating enemies. #5: “Bionic Commando” (2009) (I can’t give you back the last five years) Unfortunately, he can’t give us back all of the time we wasted on this game, either. If making protagonist Nathan Spencer into a potty mouth with dreads wasn’t bad enough, the game has one of the most absurd plot twists ever in which your mechanical arm, turns out to be Spencer’s missing wife. Your guess is as good as ours as how that works. The stupidity doesn’t stop there, because the repetitive movement scheme and unmarked invisible walls get old real fast. #4: “Shadowrun” (2007) We have no idea why developers thought that it would be a good idea to resurrect a classic cyberpunk RPG, into a multiplayer-only FPS—we just know that it didn’t work. Setting aside that there’s no stat tracking or leaderboards, the glitchy servers make it take forever to find matches. The game was so poorly received by critics and fans alike, that the development studio behind Shadowrun closed down a few months after the game’s release, and the series wouldn’t see a return to its roots until a successful Kickstarter revived it. #3: “Bomberman: Act Zero” (2006) This one simply baffle us—trying to turn the light and fun “Bomberman” series, into a dark and brooding experience with a dystopian setting. Bomberman was turned from an adorable robot into a terrifying cyborg for this game, and shackled with a repetitive campaign where you’re constantly fighting the same mindless drones. To make matters worse, the game scrapped local multiplayer which is pretty much what made the original games so fun to begin with. #2: “Sonic the Hedgehog” (2006) We debated if this counted as a reboot, but since it disregards the previous continuity and was simply titled “Sonic The Hedgehog”, then yes this crapfest counts. The frustratingly long load times, annoying camera, impossible controls and glitches galore took away all of Sonic’s charm. The story was ridiculous too, with a human princess that constantly gets kidnapped to the point that it’s mind-numbing, and a beastiality romance plot that’s equal parts “what?” and “eww”. It was truly a low point for the franchise. Before we get to our number one, let’s take a look at some honorable—or dishonorable—mentions: *“Medal of Honor” (2010) *“Turok” (2008) *“NFL Blitz” (2012) *“Flashback” (2013) *“Frogger: He’s Back” (1997) #1: “Dungeon Keeper Mobile” (2013) The PC strategy game that became a cult classic, has forever been marred by this abomination. It’s free to play, but it’s got so many paywalls that it destroys anything that made the original fun. An ad for the game was banned in the UK for misleading customers, and the publisher was caught flat out manipulating its ratings on the Android play store. Peter Molyneux, developer of the original labeled this reboot as, “Ridiculous,” and we completely agree, although were wondering if he’s played any of his own games lately. EA, for the sake of gamers everywhere, don’t ever do this again. Do you agree with our list? Which video game do you wish hadn’t been rebooted? 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